Are You Involved With The Olympics?

As the preparations for the 2012 London Olympics draw to a close it looks like there could be a jobs bonus for IT contractors and IT specialists in general. One recruitment company has estimated that up to 5000 jobs in total could be created and a number of these will be technical roles. Positions will be created as the wheels are put in motion for the telecommunications infrastructure to be put in place to allow capacity for the surge in use that will coincide with the Olympics. As with any major 21st Century event there are certain expectations for not only those competing but also the media and spectators. One can only imagine the amount of bandwidth that will be used to cover the Olympics in London!

As well as technology at the actual venues themselves London as a whole will see upgrades to various services including an extension to the existing Wifi network and the addition of internet access to the underground. Finding the space to comfortably “surf” may be a whole different problem! A lot of money will also be invested in making sure that emergency service access is maintained.

A large part of the case for winning the Olympics as the money invested is that it would generate sizable numbers of jobs and it looks like contractors are going to be included in those that benefit. How long term these posts will be will have to be seen but any increase in demand for skilled IT professionals can only be a good thing in the current economic climate.